New Delhi: Syed Asif Ibrahim on Saturday took over as Officer on Special Duty in the Intelligence Bureau in the run up to taking over as the Director of the agency by the end of this month.

59-year old Ibrahim, the first Muslim to lead the agency, will have tenure of two-years, the order said.

An official order said Ibrahim, a 1977-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as OSD in the Intelligence Bureau and will later take over as its Director after incumbent Nehchal Sandhu retires on December 31.

Earlier, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had cleared his name.

Ibrahim, who joined as a Special Director in the organisation after his return from London where he served as Minister (Coordination), has been with IB for nearly three decades and served it in various capacities handling operations, Kashmir, Naxal, security and cyber security.

He was also Private Secretary to Madhavrao Scindia and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.